diff --git a/libvips/conversion/tilecache.c b/libvips/conversion/tilecache.c
index b91305b8..86e8dd30 100644
--- a/libvips/conversion/tilecache.c
+++ b/libvips/conversion/tilecache.c
@@ -319,7 +319,7 @@ vips_tile_unlocked( gpointer key, gpointer value, gpointer user_data )
 static void
 vips_block_cache_minimise( VipsImage *image, VipsBlockCache *cache )
 {
-	printf( "vips_block_cache_minimise:\n" ); 
+	VIPS_DEBUG_MSG( "vips_block_cache_minimise:\n" ); 
 
 	g_mutex_lock( cache->lock );
 
diff --git a/libvips/foreign/gifload.c b/libvips/foreign/gifload.c
index a9db1ce3..f323bc01 100644
--- a/libvips/foreign/gifload.c
+++ b/libvips/foreign/gifload.c
@@ -53,8 +53,8 @@
 
 /*
 #define DEBUG_VERBOSE
- */
 #define VIPS_DEBUG
+ */
 
 #ifdef HAVE_CONFIG_H
 #include <config.h>
@@ -1012,7 +1012,7 @@ vips_foreign_load_gif_load( VipsForeignLoad *load )
 	if( class->open( gif ) )
 		return( -1 );
 
-	printf( "vips_foreign_load_gif_load:\n" ); 
+	VIPS_DEBUG_MSG( "vips_foreign_load_gif_load:\n" ); 
 
 	/* Make the memory image we accumulate pixels in. We always accumulate
 	 * to RGBA, then trim down to whatever the output image needs on